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2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season
The 2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season was the tenth season since the second tier of ice hockey in Sweden was renamed. The league featured 14 teams, including Stockholm-based AIK, who were relegated from the SHL following four seasons in the top league. Also joining HockeyAllsvenskan was HC Vita Hästen, which marked the return of elite-level hockey to Norrköping. A previous Vita Hästen club had played in Sweden's second-tier league until the 1995–96 season, but following that club's bankruptcy in 1996, the new Vita Hästen club rebuilt from the bottom of the league system, culminating in their promotion back to the second tier in the 2014 HockeyAllsvenskan qualifiers. Sweden's top league, the SHL, expanded from 12 to 14 teams for the 2015–16 season. This, coupled with changes to the promotion and relegation format, created an "arms race" type of situation, in which teams had a strong incentive to invest heavily to try to secure an SHL spot during this season. Format As with previous seasons, the 2014–15 HockeyAllsvenskan season featured a 52-game regular season, with teams facing each other twice at home and twice away; however, significant changes were made to the format for promotion to the SHL. Teams 1 and 2 from HockeyAllsvenskan competed in the HockeyAllsvenska Finalen, a best-of-five series, in which the winner qualified for play in the 2015–16 SHL season. Meanwhile, teams 3–8 participated in a "play-off series", Slutspelsserien, a round robin tournament. The three best teams from the play-off series, along with the loser from the HockeyAllsvenska Finalen, and the two teams with the worst records from the 2014–15 SHL season, met in SHL qualifiers called Direktkval till SHL. These were best-of-seven series, with the winners qualifying to play in the SHL. On 16 February 2015 it was announced that the playoffs was to be sponsored by Swedish firm MECA and have the collective name MECA Hockey Race. This was later denied by the Swedish Ice Hockey Association saying they own the naming rights. Regular season Standings SHL playoffs HockeyAllsvenska Finalen VIK Västerås HK and Karlskrona HK qualified for the HockeyAllsvenska Finalen, a best-of-five game series. Karlskrona HK won the series and became HockeyAllsvenska champions and qualified for play in the 2015–16 SHL season while VIK Västerås HK qualified for Direktkval till SHL. Slutspelsserien Teams 3 to 8 played a play-off series called Slutspelsserien. The series was a round robin tournament consisting of five rounds where every team faced each other once, teams 3 to 5 had home venue advantage in three out of five games. The three best teams in the series, Rögle BK, HC Vita Hästen and Malmö Redhawks qualified for Direktkval till SHL. The teams were given points before the start of the play-offs depending on which position they achieved in the regular season. Malmö Redhawks were given three points, Rögle BK were given two points and BIK Karlskoga were given one point. IF Björklöven, Mora IK and HC Vita Hästen started the series with zero points. Direktkval till SHL The losing team from HockeyAllsvenska Finalen, VIK Västerås HK, along with the three best teams from Slutspelsserien, Rögle BK, HC Vita Hästen and Malmö Redhawks face the two teams with the worst record from the 2014–15 SHL season, Leksands IF and Modo Hockey, in Direktkval till SHL. The teams are paired and face each other individually in best-of-seven game series. Leksands IF play Malmö Redhawks, Modo Hockey play HC Vita Hästen and VIK Västerås HK play Rögle BK. The three winners of these series will qualify to play in the 2015–16 SHL season. Leksands IF, Modo Hockey and VIK Västerås HK will have home venue advantage in games 1, 3, 5 and 7. Modo Hockey were the first team to win their series, winning the series against HC Vita Hästen 4–0 on 25 March 2015 and therefore successfully defending their SHL spot. Four days later on 29 March 2015 Rögle BK won the series against VIK Västerås HK 4–1 and were promoted to the SHL. The series between Leksands IF and Malmö Redhawks went to a decisive game seven on 2 April 2015 in which Malmö Redhawks won and therefore also the series with 4–3. Malmö Redhawks were promoted to the SHL while Leksands IF lost their SHL spot. 2015 Kvalserien till HockeyAllsvenskan AIK and Södertälje SK, ranked 13th and 14th after the regular season, were forced to play in the Kvalserien qualification series to defend their spots in HockeyAllsvenskan. They played a double round-robin tournament against the winners of AllEttan Norra IF Sundsvall Hockey, the winners of AllEttan Södra IK Pantern and the two playoff winners from the third-tier Hockeyettan, Västerviks IK and Tingsryds AIF. The four best teams in the series qualified for the 2015–16 HockeyAllsvenskan season. AIK defended their spot in the HockeyAllsvenskan while Södertälje SK were relegated to Hockeyettan. Tingsryds AIF, IK Pantern and IF Sundsvall Hockey were promoted to HockeyAllsvenskan. References 2014-15 HockeyAllsvenskan season Category:2014 in ice hockey Category:2015 in ice hockey